Thursday, March 11, 2010

I Second that Emoticon

This was a magazine illustration that accompanied a feature story about internet dating. I'm happy with the final result, but looking back, today I would have taken a different approach with this one. Instead of drawing by hand, I think it would have been more appropriate to create this in Illustrator using a vector-y, more graphic look. I do however like the flat look of the final product and the colors by Matt Beckham are exquisite.

Evolution of a Sketch: Below is a good example of the evolution of an idea into a fully, realized drawing. I knew I wanted this drawing to have a flat, simple look. The first sketch below was a good idea, but it didn't capture the dating aspect of the story. The second sketch was cute (subbing the cursor arrow for cupid's arrow) but I wanted something more adult in tone. My idea began to solidify with the third sketch. This one captured the love connection aspect of the story. With the fourth sketch, I decided a close-up is better and I designed the details of the lovers' faces. With the fifth sketch, I framed the couple with a computer monitor and added a keyboard. Even at the inking stage, revisions are made. I slightly poked the couple's heads out of the monitor to add some depth. The final touch: flirty emoticons.

The cool thing I neglected to mention is that when this was originally published, it was a full page. It was used as a lead-in page for the story. Usually my art is reproduced smaller within a column. It was really cool to have artwork "bleed" off the page in an actual printed publication.